Public Notice

The Universities of Nottingham, Southampton and Newcastle have agreed to share some basic information about individuals in order to identify how best we can help older people who are most at risk of emergency admission to hospital. We hope that through studying your records and those of others we can make this service better for others in future. To allow us to do this work we would like to share some basic information about you with NHS Digital.

The first principle of the Data Protection Act 1998 requires that personal data is processed fairly. To meet this requirement these organisations are under a duty to supply you with a Fair Processing Notice.

In a sharing context, a Fair Processing Notice should at least tell a data subject:

The identity of the organisation who controls the data you are sharing

The reason it is being shared

The agencies that your information is likely to be shared with

The organisations controlling the data that you have supplied are the Universities of Nottingham, Southampton and Newcastle.

Personal data is being shared in order to enable design of better hospital services for older people, particularly those people most at risk of an unplanned admission into hospital or long lengths of stay in hospital.

NHS Digital is the only agency that your personal information will be shared with. NHS Digital will then remove any personal information that says who you are and share the anonymised information with the Nuffield Trust, so that it can carry out the evaluation. The research team at the Nuffield Trust will not be able to identify you personally.

All members of staff employed by these agencies are bound by the common law duty of confidentiality which means that information that you provide to us must be held in confidence and not shared with anyone else unless:

Partners are legally obliged or permitted to disclose the information to another organisation or person

You/your carer provide consent to share the information

Please read the information in the table below which gives full details of what we propose. Your taking part is voluntary and you are free not to take part at any time without giving any reason, and this will not affect your use of the service.

Question

Answer

Why do you want to share information about me?

We want to see how well national services work in addressing the needs of older people; in particular the Nuffield Trust is undertaking an analysis to examine whether the needs of older people are being adequately met in acute hospitals. In order to do this analysis, we want to be able to share some basic information about you with NHS Digital, which collects information about all hospital treatment in England, and the Nuffield Trust, who will undertake the evaluation.

Who will be using my information?

1) NHS Digital – a national government funded statutory body created to collate information on health and social care.

Your name, address, NHS number, sex, date of birth and a unique study number (assigned to you by this service) will be transferred securely from the Universities of Nottingham, Southampton and Newcastle to NHS Digital. NHS Digital will then remove any information that says who you are and share the anonymised information with the Nuffield Trust, so that it can carry out the analysis. The research team at the Nuffield Trust will not be able to identify you personally.

How much information will you share?

For this evaluation, the information given to NHS Digital will only be enough to show whether NHS Digital holds any records of whether you have used a hospital.

What happens after my data is shared?

NHS Digital hold information on all hospital attendances in England and they will be able to identify if they have any electronic records about you. They will then be able to extract information about whether you needed hospital care after receiving our services. This information will have anything that identifies you removed and will then be sent to the Nuffield Trust. The findings from this study will be presented in a series of reports and publications available to commissioners, hospitals and the public. No information about individuals will be published.

How long will my data be stored?

NHS Digital will destroy any information they receive from us once they have found if you needed to be seen by the hospital and sent that information (without anything that could identify you), to the Nuffield Trust. The information held by Nuffield Trust will be destroyed three years after receipt of the data. If you would like more information on this see http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/

Will my data be looked after safely?

Yes. Your information will be sent securely to NHS Digital, which works under strict rules to keep your information confidential. Information on NHS Digital is here: https://digital.nhs.uk/home. Information about The Nuffield Trust is here http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk

What are the potential risks for me?

The risks are that people working at NHS Digital may be able to identify that you have received this service. Please note that NHS Digital already handles large quantities of confidential information as a national ‘safe haven’ for health data. The Nuffield Trust researchers will not be able to identify you personally and will not share your information with external third parties.

What if I do not want to consent to sharing my information or change my mind?

You do not have to agree to sharing information if you do not want to. If have agreed, you are free to withdraw at any time, without giving a reason. You can notify the Nuffield Trust and your records will be excluded from the analysis. Whether you consent or not to sharing your information, this will not affect the support you receive.

What happens if I have a question, concern or complaint?

If you have any question about the evaluation of this service or concerns about the way it has been carried out, you should contact Jenny Neuburger at the Nuffield Trust (jenny.neuburger@nuffieldtrust.org.uk). If you are unhappy about any aspect of the analysis or wish to complain formally, you can do this in first instance directly to the Chair of Trustees of the Nuffield Trust, Andy McKeon (59 New Cavendish St, London W1G 7LP), or to the Charities Commission (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission). Any complaints about NHS Digital should be to their Contact Centre at 0300 303 5678 or enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to request a copy of your information (for which a fee of £10 may be charged).